Essay on The Turn of the Screw

A detailed Summary of Essay on The Turn of the Screw

Henry James wrote The Turn of the Screw in 1898. It is told through the eyes of a governess. This governess is recently hired to take care of two children, Flora and Miles, because Miss Jessel, the previous governess, and the previous butler, Peter Quint, had died. Mrs. Grose is the housekeeper who also looks out for the children some. The governess begins to contemplate how Miss Jessel and Peter Quint died and begins to suspect there is something wrong. The governess thinks she is seeing the ghosts of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint; however, nobody else can supposedly see them. The ghosts are just the governess' hallucinations, and Mrs. Grose is deceivingly evil. The ghosts are not real; Mrs. Grose playing mind games with the governess produces them. Mrs. Grose killed Quint and Miss Jessel, so she is not as legitimate as she first appears to be.

Mrs. Grose is NOT as innocent as she seems at the beginning of The Turn of the Screw. In my opinion, it was rather odd that Mrs. Grose was glad when the governess had come to the house. She was too nice for her own good thus the reader will become suspicious of her. "Mrs. Grose assented so heartily that somehow took her manner as a kind of comfor

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Obviously, The Turn of the Screw is a book that is open to many possibilities and creates many questions throughout the reading. Are the ghosts real? Is the governess insane? Is Mrs. Grose evil? Are the children possessed? The reader may interpret the book however they wish. I have concluded that the ghosts are not real, and they are utterly hallucinations of the governess. They are all solely in her imagination. The children are not possessed, but Miss Jessel and Peter Quint obviously had an impact on their life. Mrs. Grose is evil, and the governess, Miss Jessel, Peter Quint, and Miles are all victims of the clever and mysterious Mrs. Grose. Lamentably, Mrs. Grose's scheme ended up working, and she got what she wanted - Flora.

n in the dialogue after the governess inquires Mrs. Grose again, Mrs. Grose says, "No - I know nothing." (James 33) When the governess terrifies Flora into thinking Miss Jessel was standing by her, Flora goes ballistic. Mrs. Grose is now satisfied that Flora does not like the governess anymore. Mrs. Grose's victory is completed.

ting pledge - never falsified, thank heaven! - that we should on every question be quiet at one. Oh she was glad I was there!" (James 9) I contradict the following quote from the essay "A Pre-Freudian Reading of The

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Approximate Word count = 920
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English